The President Comes to Cartersville

In honor of President’s Day, will add a new document to it’s collection of presidential history. In a ceremony Feb. 18, the museum will add a one-page, signed letter from 44th president, Barack Obama, to the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery. The unveiling ceremony will be held in the Presidential Gallery at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.

“We are thrilled to finally be able to add this letter from President Obama to our collection at Booth Museum,” Executive Director Seth Hopkins said in a press release. “We are privileged to have a gallery devoted to all the men who have served as president of the United States, and to offer visitors an opportunity to read an original letter from each one. We have long awaited this letter from our current president, and are excited to add it to the collection – just in time for President’s Day.”

On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. Booth Museum has since been working to secure a letter from the president to add beneath his portrait which has hung for the last two years in the Presidential Gallery. President Obama’s letter, written on official White House stationary, is actually addressed to visitors of the Booth. The letter commends museums like the Booth and others around the nation for their preservation of historical items significant to the United States.

Though mostly centered upon contemporary Western artwork, Booth Museum continues to draw visitors back time after time to view the Carolyn and James Millar Presidential Gallery. Designed to evoke feelings of the White House, the Booth’s Presidential Gallery features an original one-page signed letter from each U.S. president and a portrait of each man. These are accompanied by text that details each presidency and puts the letters into context for visitors. The gallery also contains sculptures depicting several important leaders.

The Booth Western Art Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is a 120,000-square-foot facility located in Cartersville. Guests are invited to see America’s story through contemporary Western artwork, presidential portraits and letters, Civil War art, more than 200 Native American artifacts, and the Sagebrush Ranch children’s gallery.

Open since August 2003, the Booth is the second largest art museum in the state of Georgia and houses the largest permanent exhibition space for Western art in the country.